Nighttime encounters
by Andromeda of Othrys
Summary: Godric and Salazar shared a special bond, closer than friends, yet not quite lovers. Godric thought they had forever. Salazar knew their time was ticking.


**This short story is for Slytherin House, prompt being Running out of time - 1,273 words**

* * *

"We have all the time in the world."

"You're so naive, Ric," Salazar snorted, leaning on the doorpost leading to Godric's study. "Nothing lasts forever."

The redheaded man waved away his friend's words. "I never said it had to last _forever_ , Sal."

"Yet you implied it."

Godric took his eyes off the parchments littering his desk and turned in his seat to face Salazar, playful smile on his face.

"It will feel like it, believe me. Every moment will be eternity."

And despite his misgivings, Salazar found himself believing his younger friend's words. He _hoped_. Oh how he hoped. However, he was a cynical man, very much aware of his faults. He knew when something happened— and it _would_ happen, it was only a matter of _when_ — it would be his fault. And yet… he couldn't help himself: he planted a soft kiss on Godric's cheek, slapping away the other man's wandering hand.

"Greedy today, Ric?"

"For you, Sal?" Godric asked, winking. "Always."

"Finish your curriculum first," Salazar sighed, gliding out of the study and into the vast halls of newly built castle the four friends wanted to transform into school. "And we shall see."

The sun was sinking behind the horizon, giving way to the full moon already climbing in the east. The night was coming, but Salazar's body was not ready to lay down and rest, buoyed by the magic whispering all around him and thrumming in the ley lines beneath him. The sheer potency of the ambient magic never failed to bring a smile out, softening his stern features. Maybe he could down in the dungeons and experiment a bit. Helga had just returned from the trip to the nearby forest, bringing in an armful of dittany. She would be grateful for a distilled essence of dittany — some students simply did not understand the meaning of the word 'dangerous'…

* * *

Several weeks later, the new moon presided over the night sky, not allowing Salazar to leave the castle for his usual evening stroll around the lake. It wouldn't have bothered him much, but the infernal storm had not allowed _anyone_ out of the castle for nearly a week, so he was feeling quite restless. Night patrols, while calming, could not match the total solitude he experienced while walking outside.

Godric found him as he brooded, just before midnight in Hogwarts' highest tower, sitting on the windowsill.

"Sal?" he whispered, trying not to startle his friend into toppling over and falling to his death.

"Ric," was the morose reply. "What are you doing here?"

Godric walked across the tower and sat next to Salazar, not looking him straight into the eye.

"You stopped visiting me," he said.

Salazar sighed, wringing his fingers. "I did not want to intrude-"

"Like that ever bothered me," Godric scoffed, tapping the ledge with his foot. "Sal, you have been drifting around the castle like a blasted ghost, but you never visit me, or Helga, or Rowena. What is wrong?"

Salazar gulped, playing with his mother's medallion. It was a nervous tick he'd picked up in his travels across the Europe. "I don't know how to explain it, Ric."

"Well try! Express yourself clearly for once, Sal!" Godric finally looked up, locking his gaze with Salazar's.

"I don't know, Ric! I don't know what's wrong with me!" He stood up, pacing. "I've been trying to figure it out for weeks — that's why I've been out near the lake so much, it helps me think — but _I can't figure it out!_ "

Godric flinched from the intensity in Salazar's words, then stood up and stepped in front of his friend. Salazar stopped pacing, and for the longest minute they just stared at each other, unwilling to unlock their gazes. Finally, Godric moved, laying his arms on Salazar's shoulder and pressed a short kiss on the corner of his mouth before stepping back.

"Relax, Sal. You are friends with the smartest witches and wizards in this part of the world. We will figure something out."

"Godric," Salazar's voice was pleading, " _I don't know what the trouble is._ "

"Rowena will know, she always does," Godric reassured him. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Salazar shook his head, unwilling to speak. He had an inkling exactly what was wrong, but he feared Rowena would find out and try to fix it. The last thing he needed was someone else falling into the same trap he did.

"When you figure out what's the problem, tell us Sal." Godric thankfully did not press for more details. "Promise."

Salazar hesitated, and then the main clock sang, alerting the two Founders it was midnight. Suddenly tired, Salazar sighed,"I promise."

He was lying through his teeth, but Godric didn't have to know that. The lovable idiot just needed to see him smile.

* * *

It was so early that the rosy fingers of Lady Dawn were just beginning to color the sky, but Salazar did not care as he flitted through his study, packing up the last of his belongings. The faster he could leave the castle, the better. A small pang went through him at the thought of leaving Hogwarts, his dear child, but there was no helping it. He could not remain.

Closing up the last of his books, taking care not to pack the journals detailing his experiments with Potions and Spell Creation, he shrunk his boxes down and placed them in his pockets. He didn't bother leaving any notes. It would just make him suffer more and undermine his already shaky determination.

The only thing he needed to do now was to walk out the front doors. The curse that _waste of space_ calling himself _mage_ cast on him demanded he leave Hogwarts through them and never return if he did not wish to see everyone around him die slow and painful death, with himself being the last one to die.

He forgot Godric was an early riser.

"Sal!"

Salazar did not answer nor turn back, opting to hurry up, cursing inwardly. Why, oh why did Master Yorick drill into his student to rise with the sun? Why couldn't he leave him to laze about in the morning, like everyone else did?

"Sal, wait! Where are you going?"

And why didn't he teach him to stop asking difficult questions?

"Away," was Salazar's curt reply. Just a few yards more! The doors were looming in front of him…

Something whispered behind him, and Salazar ducked on instinct, avoiding the red Stunner. But while it failed to Stun him, the spell forced Salazar to slow, allowing Godric to catch up with him.

"Sal!"

"Leave me alone," Salazar ordered, still not looking into Godric's eyes, afraid his composure would crumble. He did not need Godric's pleading gaze right now, not if he planned to save him and everyone else around him. "I'm leaving."

"You are… leaving?" The hurt in Godric's voice was impossible to miss, making Salazar's heart clench. "Sal… Is it because of that Mundane-born students argument?"

"Yes," Salazar lied, gritting his teeth. "Now let me go!"

"But Sal!" Godric was not letting him go. "There's no need for you to go! We can still talk it out! We have time!"

That sentence froze Salazar's heart— suddenly panicked, he spun to see the clock over the Great Hall. It was barely dawn - more than enough time to run without anyone else noticing.

"No Godric." His heart restarted, thumping faster than ever as he looked into Godric's eyes. _I'm leaving you for your own good._ He forced himself to say it, forced himself to shatter both his and Godric's hearts.

" _ **We've run out of time."**_


End file.
